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Sun's new server computer targets corporations

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CIOL Bureau
New Update

SAN FRANCISCO: Large network computer maker Sun Microsystems Inc. launched on

Tuesday a server computer to fill out the top of its midrange server line and

compete with IBM.

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The San Francisco, California-based company said the Sun Fire 12k server

would compete against IBM's Regatta server, which was launched about six months

ago. It targets companies that want high-end computers for less money, Sun said.

Sun is fighting International Business Machines Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co.

for market share in sales of large computer servers that run on the popular Unix

operating system. Tuesday's launch follows IBM's announcement on Monday of its

p670 midrange server line.

Competition for new sales has heated up as companies hurt by the economic

downturn have frozen or cut technology spending.

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Sun's 12k product, code named "Starkitty", priced between $599,000

and $1 million, is available immediately. Servers that cost more than $1 million

are generally termed as high-end systems while those costing between $100,000

and $1 million are often known as midrange servers.

"In the midrange market we had a weakness because there was too big a

gap between our midrange and high-end offerings," said Sun's Chief

Competitive Officer Shahin Khan.

The 12k server will run on 52 processors but can be upgraded to the same

level as the company's top-of-the-line 15k server which has 106 central

processing units, Sun said.

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